Sweet Roasted Chilli And Red Pepper Tomato Soup

Roasted, red chilli pepper which has been sweetly caramalised with buttery onions is the perfect comfort food for the first cold days of Autumn.

Serves: 4

Preparation: 2 Hours 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

This soup is the ‘true taste’ of Autumn. Roasted red peppers, slowly caramalised with chilli’s, tomatoes, fresh herbs and garlic cloves, tossed with roasted bayleaves.

Although you may imagine this soup to be a brightly vivid, red in colour, in fact, its a silky, orange hue! Serve this soup warmed, with a goat’s cheese crustini, topped with some sticky onions, priprika and a little, light relish. Sprinkle liberally with roasted pine nuts.

Sweet, Roasted Chilli and Red Pepper Tomato Soup

Large cauldron, or heavy bottomed saucepan
Wooden spoon
Roasting tin
Soup blender
4 serving plates

To Fry the Garlic and Onions

3/4 red onion
1 clove garlic (peeled and chopped)
45ml softened butter

To Roast the Peppers and Onions

10 peeled garlics
5 small red peppers (de-seeded and chopped into 8 pieces)
41/2 tomatoes (quartered)
21/4 red onions (peeled and quartered)
30ml dark brown muscovado sugar (to sprinkle over roasted peppers and onions)
35ml bayleaves
45ml cooking oil (to roast vegetables)
40ml balsamic vinegar (to roast vegetables)
Salt and 6 black peppercorns

To Set the Oven

Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4 for 5 minutes.

To Prepare the Red Peppers and Red Onions

1. In a shallow roasting tin, place 10 gloves of garlic, chopped red peppers, chopped red onions and chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and 6 black peppercorns. Then, drizzle 45ml cooking oil and 40ml balsamic vinegar over the vegetables. Sprinkle the peppers with bayleaves and 30ml muscovado sugar. When the the oil and balsamic vinegar have been added. Add more salt and pepper.

To Roast the Red Peppers and Red Onions

1. Bake the roasted vegetables for 40-50 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly caramalised.
2. After the first 40 minutes of cooking time, check that the baked vegetables are cooked.
3. When roasted, the peppers will be soft and slightly smoking with a slightly charred appearance on their edges. The cooked vegetables should also exude a very strong aroma of balsamic vinegar.
4. Drain the vegetables of any excess fat.
5. Set aside 8 pieces of caramalised onion to cook with the goat’s cheese crustini.

Ingredients to Fry Garlic

45ml butter

2 cloves of thinly diced, peeled garlic

Ingredients to Fry Red Onion

1/14 sliced and skinned red onions

To Make the Soup

1 1/4-11/2 pints of milk
3/4 chopped red chilli
15ml balsamic vinegar
15ml light soy sauce
15ml dark soy sauce
30ml Worchester Sauce
30ml course, grain mustard
30ml roasted, red pepper chutney
20ml muscovado brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
22ml paprikaTo Make the Soup:

1. After the vegetables have caramelised in the oven for 30 minutes, peel and finely chop 1 clove of garlic.
2. In a large cauldron, or, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 45ml butter and fry off the chopped chopped garlic.
3. Then, add the chopped red onions and fry with the garlic, until the onions are lightly browned. Drain off any excess butter.
4. In a large saucepan, or a cauldron, on a low-medium heat, gently heat the milk, ensuring that it doesn’t burn or touch the the bottom of the pan. Add the onions to the milk. Keep stirring, to ensure the soup doesn’t burn.
5. Gradually, add the roasted vegetables and the garlic into the soup, until softened, stirring regularly.
6. To season the soup, add 1/2 chopped,red chilli,15ml balsamic vinegar, light soya sauce, dark soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, course grain mustard, roasted red pepper chutney, brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper to taste.
7. Stir the soup for a further 8-12 minutes, on a low-medium heat, until the vegetables have softened. Taste, re-adjust and season the soup.
8. Slowly, bring the soup to the boil, cooking for a further 10-12 minutes. Keep stirring the soup.
9. Turn off the heat.
10. Plug in the hand-held blender. With a hand-held soup blender, blend the soup, until all the vegetables have been thoroughly mixed in.
11. Season, taste and re-adjust accordingly.

Goat’s Cheese Crustini with Caramelised Onions

8 slices of french bread
Walnut oil
8 slices of goat’s cheese or mozzarella cheese
Onions, roasted in balsamic vinegar
Toasted pine nuts
30ml roasted, red pepper chutney

Decoration

36ml-48ml single cream (9-12ml per bowl)
56ml paprika (10-14ml per bowl)

To Make Goat’s Cheese Crustini with Balsamic Onions

1. Heat the grill to a medium heat.
2. Grill each slice of french bread on one side.
3. Remove from the grill.
4. Turn the bread over.
5. Lightly drizzle the crustini with the walnut oil.
6. Place 1 slice of goat’s cheese or sliced mozzarella on each slice of the toasted bread.
7. Then, add a small handful of the reserved caramalised onion. Finish toasting the goat’s cheese crustini.
8. Remove crustini from the grill.Serving Suggestions. Drizzle 9ml-12ml cream in the centre of each soup dish and sprinkle with paprika. Drizzle walnut oil on the top of each goat’s cheese crustini and toss. Add a little chutney and some toasted pinenuts if desired.